Worldliness

WORLDLINESS

Worldliness, as we know, is at enmity with God. We live in the world, and worldliness will be discussed in four parts - The cause, its characteristics, consequences, and cure. James covered the entire concept in his 4th chapter, but it is also touched on in other books as well, and I would like to put it all together to better illustrate these parts.
1. The Cause - "From whence come wars and fightings among you?  Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not." (James 4:1 - 2) If you are a "me" person, you are a worldly person. Worldly people desire what they want, and put their desires ahead of the desires of others to the point of offense, even to the point of killing. How many countries have had wars over property, let alone one person killing another over desire for someone's land, or even spouse! The Christian is at constant war with worldliness, and that war is within! "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." (Gal. 5:17 - 18) The Spirit-led are not worldly people, but they do fight with the temptation to worldly desires on a daily basis! "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;" (1 Peter 2:11) We are pilgrims of this world, and it is not our permanent home; for we live in, then die from this material existence.

2. Characteristics - When one judges a brother or sister, they disobey the law, put themselves above it, and thereby treat it with contempt! God is also forgotten by the worldly person, forgotten in all manner of business of daily life, and His word is not read by this person, nor judged as of value TO read, lest their worldly activities fall on them with conviction! "Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? Go to now, ye that say, 'To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain': Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, 'If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.' But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (James 4:11 - 17)

3. Consequences - If someone is a worldly person, they are unfaithful to the God who made them. They love themselves and the things of the world instead of God, and therein lies the adultery, for they are not faithful to God, for they make themselves and things of the world their god before He who created them! If they love themselves more than God, He resists them, but if they are humble in their hearts, He has grace for them. "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, 'The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy'? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, 'God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.'" (James 4:3 - 6) A worldly, sinful person God will not hear: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:" (Psa. 66:18) They need not ask God any thing in prayer. The person who keeps His commandments is not behaving as one of the world, and thereby is pleasing in His sight; that person He will hear! "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." (1 John 3:22) Those that walk as in the world, God is not in him; it is written that this is so. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15) The Christian does not live as of the world, rather they live by the doctrine of the bible. By all God's laws and precepts and His wisdom do they live, because all Jesus' commandments and precepts were a reiteration of God's commands of the Old Testament. If someone belongs to God, the world hates them, shuns them, even persecutes them, because of their allegiance to God. Likewise, they whom the world loves, and they love the world, those are enemies of God! One cannot love the world and God too. You can only love one. "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." (John 15:19) "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Gen. 6:5) This is worldliness, to not think of God and His goodness and of what He wants of you. Wicked thinking grieves God at His heart! Worldly thinking is wicked and grievous to God! God is kind to the humble, but only has scorn for the proud and scornful; "Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly." (Prov. 3:34)

4. The Cure - Now if a person discovers themselves involved in worldliness, there is a cure for being this way, and James has the answer: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." (James 4:7 - 10) As pride is a worldly characteristic, and is an adultery against the Lord, putting ones self before Him, one facet of the cure is humility. God knows our hearts, and whosoever humbles themselves in their hearts, He will know it. The devil is he who tempts us with all that is of the world, with pride, and materialism, and all the adultery the world has to offer. "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Eph. 6:11) Read the truth compiled in the whole bible, and in the Gospel, take up faith in God, keep in mind your salvation in Christ Jesus, and pray for a clean heart; "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." (Psa. 51:10). David knew what to pray when he found himself not right with God! And as for drawing nigh to God, you will find this verse a very good support of Paul's cure for worldliness: "But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." (Deut. 4:29) As for cleansing your hands, Paul means here simply to stop doing worldly things and read the bible to learn how to do well instead of evil. Here's another passage of Scripture for support of what Paul meant. "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." (Isa. 1:16 - 17) Turning from worldly ways involves repenting selfish ways, and showing love by serving fellow Christians, obeying the Lord in all His word as best one can. "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:" (1 Pet. 1:22) Let a worldly person obtain a serious spirit of confession and repentance before the Lord, and humbly rid themselves of worldliness; for our God forgives! "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)